The country has watched in horror as wildfires have ripped through Colorado. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of acres of land have been left charred.

It isn’t just the hot, dry weather that’s been fanning the flames; insects have killed many trees there. Some of the same species, like spruce budworms and pine bark beetles are now tearing through Washington forests.

In response, the state is taking action to prevent what’s happened in Colorado from happening here, and to potentially save taxpayers millions of dollars.

 “It’s a risk for everybody,” Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark said of the insect infestation.

Goldmark has announced a forest health hazard warning for more than 1 million acres of forest in Okanogan, Ferry, Klickitat and Yakima counties.

“To prevent anything like what’s happening in Colorado from ever occurring here,” he said.

The warning will give him broad authority to use $4 million in state money to thin out diseased stands of timber, which will leave more space for healthy trees to grow bug-free.

“We are not going to extinguish these problems on our own with pesticides,” said Karen Ripley, an entomologist with the Department of Natural Resources. “We need to make the trees strong enough so they can protect themselves.”

The stakes are high. One fire on Okanogan County six years ago cost $100 million to fight. Lives can be lost, homes and wildlife habitats can be destroyed, and state timber sold to support education can literally go up in smoke.

Goldmark said the state’s general fund is put at risk whenever a forest fire breaks out.

That’s why people like Steve Wirt in the tiny town of Liberty said they support an effort to battle the insects.

“It’s horrible,” he said.

“Absolutely, we wish they had done it 50 years ago,” said Lana Burwell, another Liberty resident. “We’ve complained about the bugs for a good 10 years.”